Phil Taylor was relatively unknown nationally before his coming out party at the Senior Bowl. Taylor originally played for Penn State before being arrested following a fight at a frat party in 2008. Taylor was subsequently suspended and dismissed from the team, and then decided to transfer to Baylor where he became a full-time starter in 2010.

Phil Taylor finished the year with 35 tackles, 7 for loss, and 2 sacks – fairly average statistics. It was at the Senior Bowl, where he consistently beat top tier competition in one-on-one drills, that he began to garner top 5 DT consideration. There he showed that he plays with good leverage and better than average agility for a man his size. He showed an outstanding ability to stay square against double teams and had a great push in goalline situations. One weakness, once his initial burst was stalled, it was hard for him to get a secondary rush or change directions to mirror the play.

Taylor is going to be a 3-4 nose in which he will be asked to plug gaps and free up linebackers, which suits his 6’3 1/4 334 pound frame just fine. But oddly enough, his size (more specifically his weight) is actually a true concern of NFL scouts. At one point in time, Taylor weighed in at more than 360 pounds, and that will need to be controlled if a team is planning on investing millions of dollars in him.